


Traversing Autumn

by MagnoliaOmega



Category: Original Work
Genre: A/B/O, A/B/O dynamic, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Claiming Bites, F/M, Knotting, Mating Bond, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Omega Verse, Omegaverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-23 20:32:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13198023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagnoliaOmega/pseuds/MagnoliaOmega
Summary: In the wake of heightened prejudice and violence against Dynamic humans in modern society, the world's first Dynamic commune is created as a refuge for those who qualify. Travers DePointe, a down-on-his-luck Alpha, is one of the lucky few accepted into the commune and becomes intrigued by the beautiful but mysterious Autumn. Still, beneath the veneer of the immaculate Vista Del Manzanar commune, all is not as it seems...





	Traversing Autumn

_“Shera Fawles, Omega, 32, and her bondmate and husband, Erik Fawles, Beta, 34, had been found beaten to death inside their West Fountainside home after neighbors called stating that screams had been heard. Authorities suspected foul play after the house had been vandalized, but nothing appeared to have been taken.”_

_The camera pans over a scene of destruction in the master bedroom: the comforter on the bed had been torn to shreds, the show titles appearing slowly over footage of a smashed vanity table with a haphazard spray of jewelry and a shattered perfume bottle. Beside it, a wedding photo had been thrown to the floor with terse, spray-painted letters over it: MONGRELS NOT WANTED HERE._

_"Dearly Departed Dynamics”; True Crimes, October 24, 2113_

 

_"Classmates state that Chris Odell, Unknown, 16, had been acting aggressively at school in the weeks before Odell was accosted by several classmates in a locker room on Thursday. Faculty members allege that his sudden change in demeanor may be attributed to a biological phenomenon commonly known as “Presenting” within the Dynamic race. Odell, a wrestler at Leafridge High, had been transferred into the district following an undisclosed incident at a previous school. “Chris always had a knack for the sport,” stated Ben Rew, a wrestling coach, as stated to The Leafer."_

_"He recently got a scholarship to State, then all of this Dynamic stuff started coming up with those kids at Tech. You know.. too strong and all that. That racial stuff is not fair to other people. Must’ve rubbed some of the other kids the wrong way.” In a city-mandated press conference Superintendent Fennow stated, “The Leafridge School District denies all accountability in biologically-based incidents indirectly or intentionally caused by Dynamic staff or students. Our hearts go out to the loved ones of Mr. Odell, and we all wish for his full and speedy recovery.” At the time of this publication, Odell is currently at Leafridge Memorial in critical condition.”_

_The Leafer Clarion; March 7, 2114 “_

 

_"Actor and up and coming film director Elora Guignot, Alpha, woke up to disappointing news as her critically-acclaimed hit, “A Shade of Beauty”, was disqualified from the Orbiter Film Awards pending allegations of plagiarism. Audio recordings of the voting committee taken by an unnamed individual has now taken the internet by storm several weeks later. It is believed that the voice of Orbiter Film Committee chair, Arin Bresby, could be heard stating, “Anybody else, but not one of them.” Bresby could not be reached for comment by Starstruck.”_

_Starstruck Online; July 15, 2114_

 

\------

 

It was around then that the advertisements began.

Ten-second inserts before online videos at first, then, as time wore on, full infomercials broke from their three am obscurity and broadcasted everywhere. Podcasts. Mailers. Bus stops. “A Home Just For You,” the voiceover offered in soft, unassuming tones of pastel comfort. “Where You Can Be Who You Were Meant to Be.”

Some versions featured a small boy running into the arms of an aproned man in a sunny kitchen, a woman in medical scrubs coming to join them and ruffling the boy’s hair. Another had three women sharing popcorn, snuggled into a couch bedecked with blankets and pillows in a living room pulled straight out of a home and garden magazine. All versions of the advertisements caused an uproar and public speakers that dissented began alluding to “special privileges” and “safe spaces”.

 

There was concern at first, messaging boards full of arguments that a commune was a way for the human populace to keep the unknown, the dreaded Dynamic Other away from them. Rumors of some kind of internment camp arose, but for many the world how it was now was becoming too hostile. And always the same question that went unanswered: _They don’t want us with them, they don’t want us to have a place of our own. Where are we supposed to go?_

 

People in suits promised reform, justice; the same people in suits who summarily could not be reached for comment when a precinct in Burke Lanes successfully defended the use of the word _“Mongrel”_ in official doctrine in court.

 

It was after the death of a Dynamic high school student in Leafridge and his attackers acquitted of all wrongdoing that the nationwide protests began. Other countries began to march against the injustices dealt to Dynamic Humans and international news headlines erupted with stories of curfews, riots, and civil unrest. Applications to _Vista Del Manzanar_ , the world’s very first Dynamic Community, began to number into the thousands.

 

\------

 

Trave hesitated at the manila envelope, cautious. He looked both ways down the empty apartment hallway, fishing out his keys from his gym bag and stooping to observe the envelope on his welcome mat, no thicker than a single sheet of paper. After being let go from his job only weeks before it couldn’t hurt to be careful.

 

_“You have to understand,” his manager said, fiddling with the wedding band on his finger and breaking eye contact with the handful of Dynamic employees shifting about on worried feet on the other side of the solid oak desk; a clear division between the Normal and the Other. He kept glancing at the screen of his desktop computer and attempted to translate the corporate jargon for ‘This is your fault’ into laymen’s terms._

_“I can’t… we can’t… the company has decided to let you all go. For your safety.” They all knew that the van in the back lot still had the graffiti painted over the electric company’s logo. And just like that, the news, the chaos that had been brewing the world over was no longer some story on the radio anymore; it had arrived on their doorstep._

 

And so Trave stood at his doorstep, looking over the envelope again. He jingled his keys into the lock and turned it over to read the label: _Travers DePointe._

His neighbors had been friendly before, but now only greeted the blond Alpha with a cool politeness that spoke more of caution than sincerity. Before, he couldn’t remember a single envelope or package sitting vulnerable in his hallway without a helpful neighbor to pick it up and deliver to him once he was home. Trave assumed that he passed easily enough for a normal human; at five foot ten, he was considered a bit short for his dynamic and worked out enough to explain his muscled build and broad shoulders as more than genetic predisposition. But the incident at work in such a small town had put a brand onto his forehead. He had lost count of how many job interviews had soured once he walked in, hiring managers hunched over their keyboards to check his info against a dossier again, and yet again; of how many more polite, but impersonal, letters he received beginning with, “Thank you for your interest, however at this time….”

 

A person’s Dynamic was as easily researchable as someone’s profile online, even if he were to lie or leave out that he was a Dynamic, Human people would find out soon enough. The subtle slights that he perceived were against him were no longer just mere projections in his head: Shoppers made an effort to avoid perusing from the same produce stalls at the farmer’s market at the same time, an old chatty friend at the butcher’s now a brusque stranger behind the store counter; an air of hypervigilance with the other weightlifters at the local gym, as if the Alpha they had spotted a weight with only weeks before were to suddenly go wild the Normal people had to be ready to subdue him. Trave began to leave his apartment only when he absolutely had to. He and his friends only met at each other’s homes, never at the diner or the bar anymore, never somewhere public where any excuse could be used against them. And still, the news was an endless barrage of violence and uncertainty as they slowly withered away from the world that did not want them.

Except for that _ad_.

 

 _“Currently accepting all Dynamics of all positions and vocational backgrounds. Job training offered on site for those who qualify!”_ the Vista del Manzanar website posted above a flashing ‘Apply Here!’ link. He wasn’t sure how many depressed, out-of-luck Alpha electricians had been applying, but after little deliberation he didn’t care. With no other options left, he had sent out the application with the necessary paperwork to the commune only a week ago in an act of desperation. All applicants were subject to a background check, completion of a brief medical examination, a breakdown of the job and volunteer rotations expected if one were accepted and a listing of the rules and regulations in a convenient series of links provided on the webpage.

 _There is no way that they accepted me,_ he thought as he jiggled the scant envelope between his thumb and forefinger. He had received job rejection letters thicker than this. He tore it open and kicked the door shut behind himself. _No way._

Embossed letters with filigree arose from the thick cardstock sheet as he unsheathed it from the envelope, bidding him greeting as a handsome watercolor print of an expansive apple orchard bloomed from the background. A plastic ID card with his name and a passport photo he had sent in was pressed into an insert on the page. He traced his fingers over the letters and the card in disbelief and his hands shook; a plane ticket fluttered to the floor from the envelope, a full orientation schedule and recommended packing list printed on the back of the page.

 

_“Welcome to where you were meant to be, Travers DePointe.”_

**Author's Note:**

> All of my love and stars in the sky for my patient and wonderful Beta Reader, Sliverofjade.  
> (Have you read her stuff? You should. It is flipping amazing.)  
> This has morphed from a silly idea into a living, breathing universe thanks to her guidance and I am beyond grateful.


End file.
